Guerrillero Heroico: Michael Korda's famous 1960 photograph of Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by Jack Brummet, Travel Editor

Guerrillero Heroico: this image of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, by Cuban photographer Michael Korda was taken in Havana in 1960 at a memorial service for the victims of the Le Coubre explosion. By the end of the 1960s, Guevara's notoriety and revolutionary actions and execution (by CIA-hired assassins), solidified the leader and his image as an icon.

Korda once said that at the moment he shot the picture at the funeral, he was drawn to Guevara's facial expression, which showed "absolute implacability" as well as anger and pain.

Images of Che Guevara are ubiquitous in Cuba (and over much of the world). There are also, of course, many images of Fidel Castro, who survived Che by over 50 years. But it is Che you see *everywhere*, in many forms and mediums.

The image was the focus of a documentary "Chevolution," by Trisha Ziff, as well as a 2009 book "Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image" by Michael Casey."

It is a stunning photograph and fascinating to see (in such a heavily controlled and monitored society) the degree of exploitation of this image, in memorials, photos, books, and posters. Here are some of the trash and trinkets we saw.

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Granma's target practice dummies

by Jack Brummet, Travel Ed.

One of the target practice dummies Fidel, Che, Raoul, and the 79 other revolutionaries used on board the yacht Granma as they sailed from Mexico to invade Cuba. I still don't know they avoided ricochets?

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Photo: Guerillas Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in the early days, up in the Sierra Maestra Mountains

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in the early days of their guerrilla campaign, holed up in the Sierra Maestra Mountains.

#85075079 / gettyimages.com

Much later - Che tourist postcards on sale in Havana:

#98877483 / gettyimages.com

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Fidel Castro meets kids dressed up as Fidel Castro

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